Rotary engine and the like



April 10, 1928. 1,665,994 I I. TURNER ROTARY ENGINE AND THE LIKE Filed July 14, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet *1 April 10, 1928.

- r 1,665,994 |.TURNER I ROTARY ENGINE AND THE LIKE Filed July 14. 1925 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 10, 1928.

April 10, 1928.

l. TURNER ROTARY ENGINE AND THE LIKE Filed July 14. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 InV nT Ivan Tum-er, 2 J m" "*4 Patented Apr. 10,1928

'. four bladesarrangedat right angles to one jiuni-Ta sr IVAN'TU'RNER, or ILONDON,VYYENGLAND;

a1" ROTARY' ENGINE 'ANID TI-IE: LIVKE.

Application filed' July 4, 1925, Serial No. 43,539, and i i-Great Britain liecember 2 3, 1924; r r

Y This invention relatesto rotary-engines, pumps, compressors and the like, of the type in which 'a cylindricalrotor ;is mounted in a non-circular cylindrical casing, and the rotor is furnished with a number of radially sliding vanes oriblades, the-outer ends of the blades having suitablepacking means making contact'with the, interior :of the casing and the innerendsof the blades being. con- 0 nected by means of links which, are hinged together in series." In such machines having another, the links constitute a parallelogram;

the present .inventionis applicableto mav chines having four sliding blades or any greater number, the linksforming a closed figure with a corresponding number of sides. mThe invention .hasforr-its, principal objects to control the radial" motion of the vanes so :as to reducefriction and prevent excessive contact pressure due to centrifugal force, :and to allowffor variations in the a radial'motion,

hi-According; to. this invention the radial reciprocation of the link-connected blades is controlled by one or more stationary .fcams co-operating, with rollers mounted at the inner ends of the blades, preferably coaxially with the .ihinges between ;the bladeconnecting links.- The shape or the camissuch as to produce the required inward and outward movements ofthe, respective blades inlconformity with the working of the link motion and the internal shape of thej casing. Contact may be maintained between the cam surface and the rollers by,tl1euse of V springs or spring-loaded links connecting the inner ends of the blades, the springs being used simplyfor the purpose of taking up the mechanical clearances int-he linkwork.

The invention is hereafter described w th reference to the accompanying drawing, in v which i .Figure l -is a longitudinal section. of a rotary steam engine according to the present invention, having four sliding blades connected by links'whichform a parallelogram.

- angles of a the links.

" -Figure 5' is a diagrammatic end-view of an alternative form of engine having eight body. p F igure 6 is apart sectional elevation, cor? responding to the right. side of- Figure. 2, of i one of the rotary inlet valves andits actuat-j 'ing means, a

modified form of hinge joint for 1 blades sliding radially the rotor or piston Figure 7 is. a cross section through oneof the exhaustvalves, and v vi I v Figure 8 illustrates the preferred arrange. ment of steamdistributor for operating-the exhaust valves. v r i V As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the-casing ofthe engine is constructed in a number of parts to facilitate assembly, the central part abeing of oval cylindrical shape to formthe' working chambers, and the outer Y 7 parts .or end covers a being fitted with the necessary valves'forthe working fiuidl and suitable bearings for the shaft of the rotor b; the rotor is built 'upwith end-rings b ,"of which one is securedto its shaft by adished flange-connection .71 The bladesc mounted in the rotor soas to be-slidable radially in I i slotstherein, are provided at their outer ends. 7 g V. with suitableineans for packing thefjoints Tbetween the relatlvely moving 'partspthe inner ends of'the blades carry: lugs orfeyesd,

theinterior of the rotor being recessedas at e to accommodate these lugs when the blades are in the outer position. i v a The links '7 0fthe parallelogram. connecting the blades together in the known manner,

are hinged to the blades 0 by, means, of pins 9 fitted through the lugs d. The ends ofthe 7 two links f engaging each pin, g are of single and duplexconstruction respect1'vely,: for

example diametrically opposite links may be V duplicated as shown to centr'alizethepressure-upon the hinge-pins, a 1

pin g carries a roller lb adapted to travel 011 each side of the hinge connection,.each

uponthe exterior of a cam'z'ythe two cams controlling'the 'four pairsfof rollers are: mounted upona centralsleeve' j secured to the cover-platen at oneend of the casing and provided with suitable'bearings for the cams i are ofoval profile with two-lobes or swells, substantially "corresponding to 3 the- ,interior ofthe oval casing;

The working chambers mare. provided the port at one endof the chamber being opened for forward running and that at the rotor and its shaft. 7 AsseeninFigure 2, the a other end for reverse running. As each Vane .moves inwards, it passes across the open port '0, and allows the exhaust of the steam acting behind the vane.

In Figure 7, the'exhaust port o is .shown j controlled by a valve a having a piston o exhaust port pistons 22 according to the position of lever it either pair of pistons can be subjected to the steam pressure so as to close the corresponding exhaust ports 4).

Each of the side chambers Z0 contains a relief valve such as a spring loaded ball 7:

adapted to be lifted oil its seat by the spindle t of the poppet valve 25, in order to release the'pressure from the p1pes Z and pistonso of the exhaust ports to be brought into operation, the pressure in the working open to exhaust.

chamber then forcing back the corresponding piston valves so as to leave these ports When changing over from one direction to the other, pressure is momentarily applied -to all the pistons 11" so as to maintain the two pairs of exhaust ports; closed. During this time, while the lever 10 is in neutral position, the steam contained in the working chambers is thus trapped and becomes coinpressed by the momentum of the engine, which action assists the slowing of the engine for reversal and tends to start the motion in the opposite direction as required.

The inlet valves a are of rotary type and driven by skew gearing m from a cross shaft a which operates two inlet valves at diametrically opposite points in the casing a, (see Figures 2 and 6), the cross shaft being itself driven from the main shaft 0 by another set of skew gears yn Axial travel of the cross shaft can be produced by a screw mechanism p and hand wheel 29 at one end of the shaft, by which thetiming of the valves in relation to the rotor can be regulated or reversed.

The steam admitted through the rotary inlet valves a? which open at a suitable moment after the vanes e have passed the exhaust valves a passes along the spaces 6 on the periphery of the rotor to the upper and lower chambers 00 seen in Figure ,2, mingling with the fluid remaining in the lower chamber which (in the direction of rotation indicated) is at the end of its exhaust stroke, and roviding a working charge for the blade 111 the upper chamber,

the admission to the latter being cut oil at the desired point by the rotary inlet Valve and the charge then expanded until the opening of the exhaust valve a when the bladereaches' the corresponding point.

WVhere it is desired to allow for slight variations in the radial movement of the blades as determined by the shape of the easing and the cams, spring links may be employed. As shown more particularly in igures 3 and 4:, the link is of telescopic construction, the opposite ends being sliclaible through a pair of cross bars pressed apart by springs which tend to shorten the linl; and thereby keep the rollers in contact. The extension of the lin'kis limited by anadjust able stop m. screwing through one/of the cross bars is, in order to prevent the tips of the blades from coming into contact with the casing through centrifugal force in case of excessive speed.

Figure '5 illustrates another formiof.construction of the engine, in which the '-.cas-1ng a, instead of being of oval shape, is formed with four chambers around the cylindrical rotor b. The latter carries eight sliding blades 0, which are controlled through the rollers 7b by means of a stationary-cam a having four peaks, corresponding to the shape of the casing a, this cam being mounted upon a sleeve j as in the previous construction. The pins of the sliding blades are :connected together in series by hingedlinlzs 7, preferably spring-loaded as above described. it will be understood that the invention can be applied to rotary engines with other numbers of sliding blades, as well as .to pumps, compressors and the like.

What I claim i-s:-- 1. A rotary engine, comprising a-cylindrical rotor, a non-circular casing, said rotor mounted for rotation in said casing, a plurality of vanes mounted in said a rotor and adapted to slide radially thereof, a plurality of spring links connecting the inner ends of said vanes, said spring links including yielding members with springs controlling the relative yielding motion of said members, anda stationary cam controlling the radial motion of said vanes, said spring links restraining the radial motionlof said vanes as they approach their outer limit.

2. A rotary engine, comprising a cylindrical rotor, a non-circular casing, said rotor mounted for rotation in said casing, a plurality of vanes mounted in said rotor and adapted to slide radially thereof, a plurality of links connecting the'in-ner ends of said vanes, said links including telescopic members and springs tending to shorten the links, and a stationary cam controlling th radial motion of said vanes.

3. A rotary engine, comprising a oylin" drical rotor, a noncircular casing, said rotor mounted for rotation in said casing, a pin,

rality of vanes mounted in said rotor and adapted to slide radially thereof, a plurality of links connecting the inner ends of said vanes, said links including telescopic members, cross members, springs pressing said cross members apartto shorten the links,

and means for limiting the extension of the links, and a stationary cam controllingthe I radlal motion of said vanes.

4. Arotary engine," comprising a cylindrical rotor, a non-circular casing, said rotor mounted for rotation in said casing, a plu-' rality of vanesymounted in said rotor and 7 adapted to slide" radially thereof, a plurality of links connectingthe inner ends of said links, a stationary cam controlling the mo- IVAN TURNER 

